Home

  • Home
    • » e-Newsletters

Physicians’ suit against UnitedHealth dismissed

Physician Practice Advisor, June 21, 2006

A federal judge has dismissed all claims against UnitedHealth Group Inc., the nation's second-largest health insurer, in a class-action suit involving nearly 700,000 physicians who claimed the country's biggest health insurers had unfairly cut their reimbursements, according to The Miami Herald.

The ruling ends the seven-year case over whether the insurers conspired to use similar software that arbitrarily denied or reduced physicians' claims. The judge wrote that although there was insufficient evidence to prove wrongdoing, he did not condone the insurers' actions.

Of the companies involved in the suit, only UnitedHealthcare and Coventry Health Care continued to fight the case. Aetna, Cigna, Prudential, HealthNet, Humana, and Wellpoint reached settlements over the past three years, paying out an estimated $405 million to physicians, $40 million to healthcare foundations, and $201 million to the 11 law firms involved.

Click here to read The Miami Herald article.

Most Popular